Olympic Update!

Hello!

This is an official Olympic Update!

We began this journey on February 12^th, all 27 of us in the Kaleo course. This experience has been absolutely incredible. I can see God working through and in us all over the place! We have been working long hours (6:00 AM – 4:00 PM) and taking busses in the morning and night to get to and from Whistler Olympic Park. That means that we are waking up at three thirty every morning, and getting back to the church around five thirty. Every day seems to come with new challenges, and there are always new people to meet from all over the world, which has been incredible. The Weather has been phenomenal (around 9 degrees) for this time of year at Whistler and the sun has been gorgeous. Each night after we are all back form our day’s work we all meet together and worship with songs and bible passages and stories from our day. We asked God before this trip to make it clear why we are here – and each one of us has had experiences where God has made it clear that he brought us here for a purpose – which is amazing. We are well known in the workforce at Whistler as “oh that group from the bible college.” It has been so cool to serve along side twenty-six enthusiastic, loving, hard working workers who are there to serve the Lord along with me. I can’t imagine doing this without them. I have developed relationships with many of the other workers and love this great opportunity. God has been astoundingly gracious to me by blessing me with great health, energy, strength, joy, confidence, boldness, patience, and endurance! We are staying at the Baptist church in Squamish where the mountain’s supremacy surrounds us. Each night after work the bus ride home renews my soul with cascading rivers, and mighty mountains topped with white powder that reach as far as the eye can see. The sun is usually setting around this time. I have completely appreciated Jim Badke (Kaleo leader), along with Justin and Marissa (Kaleo interns) who have been leading us through this trip. I am also appreciated Laura Sherwood, our cook, who is staying with us in Squamish to cook for us. We have one week remaining - continue to pray that we would power through this mission of God's!

In God's Time

Time seems to be something I simply cannot get enough of. I feel like I am running behind my own life just trying to catch up. Life has been very busy here and keeping in touch with everyone at home has been a challenge. This past week we had class on Tuesday and on Thursday - Camp Ministry with Jim Badke. I enjoyed these days of class, and learned lots about the Camp Ministry. I was very busy throughout the week applying to Universities and getting all of my transcripts and info sent along with each. I barely made some of the due dates - it felt great to get that out of the way. The week was also very busy with homework, some from Theology of Mission, some from Camp Ministry, and some from Introduction to Theology which we are taking this week. I enjoyed spending time with my roommates this week, one night we went into Duncan and sat at Starbucks and visited - this was such a blessing! On Friday night we had an event here at Qwanoes for all of the youth groups in Cowichan Valley. I was blessed to sing with Russ throughout the evening. It was fun to hang out with the ladies of Cobble Hill and show them where I live and my room and they were able to meet my roommates. This evening was tons of fun. On saturday, we went to play soccer with our youth group in the afternoon, and unfortunately, Justin (intern) and James acquired false information when seeking directions - so lets just say it took a while to get there:) but once we got there, it was lots of fun, I loved hanging out with them and playing soccer. On Sunday, we went to church - and it was a really sweet time of worship and fellowship. It wasn't long before we found ourselves back there for the Bridge. The Bridge was a good mixture of fun and learning. Lech (Pastor) talked to us and the youth about the heart of worship, then we praciticed, then ate supper there (which was amazing!) then the service started at seven. It went very well and some of the Kaleos came too - and that was a huge blessing. I am looking forward to theology this week!